Robert Hugh Benson
Robert Hugh Benson AFSC KC*SG KGCHS (18 November 1871 – 19 October 1914) was the youngest son of Edward White Benson (Archbishop of Canterbury) and his wife, Mary. He was also the brother of novelist Edward Frederic Benson and poet A.C. Benson. Life Benson was educated at Eton College and then studied classics and theology at Trinity College, Cambridge from 1890 to 1893. In 1895, he was ordained a priest in the Church of England by his father who was the then Archbishop of Canterbury. Benson's father died suddenly in 1896 and he was sent on a trip to the Middle East to recover his own health. While there, he began to question the status of the Church of England and to consider the claims of the Catholic Church. His own piety began to tend toward the High Church variety and he started exploring religious life in various Anglican communities, eventually obtaining permission to join the Community of the Resurrection. Benson made his profession as a member of the community in 1901, at which time he had no thoughts of leaving the Church of England. But as he continued his studies and began writing, he became more and more uneasy with his own doctrinal position and, on 11 September 1903, he was received into the Catholic Church. He was awarded the Dignitary of Honour of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre. Benson was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest in 1904 and sent to Cambridge. He continued his writing career along with his ministry as a priest. Like both his brothers, Fred (Edward Fredrick/E.F.) Benson and Arthur (A.C.) Benson, Robert Hugh Benson wrote many ghost stories, collected in The Light Invisible (1903) and The Mirror of Shallott (1907). Seven of these stories are included in David Stuart Davies (ed) The Temple of Death: The Ghost Stories of A.C. and R.H. Benson (Wordsworth, 2007) along with nine by his brother A.C. Benson. As a young man, he recalled, he had rejected the idea of marriage as “quite inconceivable.”Robert Hugh Benson, Confessions of a Convert (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1913). Then in 1904, soon after his ordination as a Roman Catholic priest, he formed a passionate friendship with Frederick Rolfe. For two years this relationship involved letters “not only weekly, but at times daily, and of an intimate character, exhaustingly charged with emotion.” All letters were subsequently destroyed, probably by Benson’s brotherDavid Hilliard, "UnEnglish and UnManly:Anglo-Catholicism and Homosexuality" in Victorian Studies Winter 1982. He was appointed a supernumerary private chamberlain to the Pope in 1911, and consequently styled Monsignor. Robert Hugh Benson: Life and Works, a biography by Janet Grayson, was published in 1998. Publications ;Science fiction *''A Mirror of Shalott'' *''Lord of the World]'' *''The Dawn of All'' Historical fiction *''By What Authority?'' *''Come Rack! Come Rope!'' ;Initiation. *''Oddsfish!'' *''The King's Achievement'' (Sir I. Pitman and sons, ltd., 1908) *''The History of Richard Raynal, Solitary]'' ;Contemporary Fiction *''The Light Invisible'' *''The Sentimentalists'' *''The Conventionalists'' *''The Necromancers. B. Herder, 1909. *None Other Gods'' *''The Winnowing'' *''Loneliness'' ;Children's Books *''Alphabet of Saints'', with Reginald Balfour and Charles Ritchie (Burns, Oates & Washbourne, 1905) *''A Child's Rule of Life'', illustrated by Gabriel Pippet *''Old Testament Rhymes'', illustrated by Gabriel Pippet Devotional Works *''Friendship of Christ'' *''Life in the World unseen'' *''More About Life in the World Unseen'' *''More Light'' *''Facts'' *''Here and Hereafter'' Apologetic Works *''Confessions of a Convert'' *''Religion of the Plain Man'' *''Paradoxes of Catholicism'' *''Papers of a Pariah'' *''Christ in the Church: A Volume of Religious Essays'' *''Non-Catholic Denominations''www.archive.org ;Plays *''Cost of a Crown, a Story of Douay & Durham; a Sacred Drama in Three Acts'' *''A Mystery Play in Honour of the Nativity of Our Lord'' (Longmans, Green, and Co., 1908) *''The Upper Room, a drama of Christ's passion'' *''The Maid of Orleans, a drama of the life of Joan of Arc'' Notes References * External links ;Poems * "The Teresian Contemplative" * from "Christian Evidences" ;Books *Works by or about Robert Hugh Benson at Internet Archive (scanned books original editions color illustrated) * (plain text and HTML) * *Lord of the World ;About *Biographical Portrait of Msgr. Benson *R.H. Benson at AuthorWars.com *''Hugh'', a memoir by his brother, A.C. Benson Category:1871 births Category:1914 deaths Category:English novelists Category:English science fiction writers Category:English religious writers Category:English children's writers Category:English historical novelists Category:English dramatists and playwrights Category:Roman Catholic writers Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism Category:Members of Anglican religious orders Category:English Roman Catholic priests Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Category:English Roman Catholics Category:Knights and Dames Grand Crosses of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre Category:Knights Commander of the Order of St Gregory the Great Category:Christian poets Category:Christian writers